Help Make ArtSoup Happen and Have Fun Doing It! By Laura Fryberger

There are two fundraising opportunities for people to help the Elk River Area Arts Alliance make programs like ArtSoup happen; ArtSoup Buttons and the Saturday NITE Music & Movie Fundraiser.

If you are out and about visiting local businesses like Kemper Drug and Diamond City Bread during the month of June, you may notice a display advertising the sale of commemorative ArtSoup 2007 Buttons. These cute wearables sell for $5, over 90% of which goes directly back to supporting the programs put on by the ERAAA, programs like the Performance Series, ArtScape, Arts in Harmony, and, of course, ArtSoup! By wearing the button around town during June, you help spread the word about the festival weekend, plus you get the added bonus of using the coupons that come with the button to receive great discounts at area businesses. See the displays or go to our website www/elkriverart.org to learn more about button discounts.

Buying a button also gets you half off the $5 ArtSoup Saturday NITE Music & Movie Fundraiser on Saturday, June 23rd. Grab your blanket or lawnchairs and join your neighbors on the lawn of "The Pit," aka Handke Stadium, at 8 p.m. to rock out to the sounds of local high school talents, the Kyle Baker Band, followed at dusk by the premiere of It Came From Another World!, the family-friendly indy B-horror movie tribute flick hosted by artist-creator Christopher R. Mihm. It Came From Another World! is the second feature in the "Saint Euphoria Pictures/All for George Productions" series of black-and-white, 1950' s inspired " B-movies" written & directed by the Arden Hills based filmmaker. The film' s world premier is in May 2007 and is the non-linear sequel to 2006' s The Monster of Phantom Lake, which received rave reviews and has since grown to become a small cult phenomenon in the indy film scene. All of Mihm' s films are dedicated to his late father George who shared his love of B-grade science fiction and horror films of the 1950' s and early 1960' s with his son before his death. Mihm created It Came From Another World as a film he felt a ten-year-old version of his father would appreciate. The festival food vendors will be open and the event will be moved into the Handke gymnasium in case of rain.

Tickets for the Saturday NITE Music & Movie event are $5 and are available through ERAAA, stop by or call the ERAAA office at 763.441.4725 to purchase tickets. If tickets remain, they will be sold during ArtSoup on June 23rd and at the event.